Kukishinden-ryu Happo Bikenjutsu
九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術Weapons and taijutsu school taught in Bujinkan and Genbukan. Wikipedia and Genbukan give its origin differently. We have not found independent evidence.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Kukishinden-ryu Happo Bikenjutsu
About Kukishinden-ryu Happo Bikenjutsu
Kukishinden-ryu happo bikenjutsu, 九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術, is one of the nine schools that, according to English Wikipedia, make up Hatsumi Masaaki's Bujinkan budo taijutsu. In Martial Arts of the World, Green states that Hatsumi heads nine ryuha, which he inherited from his teacher Takamatsu Toshitsugu, but he does not list them by name. Japanese Wikipedia says that Hatsumi took over the nine schools in 1958 after fifteen years of training. The sources give the origin of the school differently. English Wikipedia places Kukishin-ryu with Yakushimaru Ryushin of the 14th century, Japanese Wikipedia derives Kukishinden-ryu from Yakushimaru Kurando Takazane of the Nanbokucho period. The Genbukan organisation, where Tanemura Shoto teaches the school, derives it from the master Izumo Kaja Yoshiteru in 1141 and distinguishes it from Tenshin hyoho Kukishin-ryu and Hontai Kukishin-ryu bojutsu. It is a traditional transmission from scrolls, and we have not found independent historical evidence. According to Genbukan, the school includes daken taijutsu, bojutsu, sojutsu, naginatajutsu, bisentojutsu, jojutsu and juttejutsu. According to it, happo refers to eight martial arts. The official list of Nihon Kobudo Kyokai does not include the school and lists only Kukishin-ryu bojutsu linked with Takagi-ryu jujutsu.
History
Genbukan states that Yoshiteru spent three years in the Inome cave and named his school Kukishinden happo no hijutsu, the tenth generation, according to it, named it Kukishin-ryu happo biken no jutsu and the fourteenth Kukishinden happo bikenjutsu. Viscount Kuki Takaharu, according to Genbukan, founded the Kodo Senyokai association in 1921, in whose combat section Takamatsu taught according to Japanese Wikipedia. According to Genbukan, most documents of the Kuki family burned in the air raids in 1945 and Takamatsu transcribed the inner secrets from his own copy. English Wikipedia says that the scrolls of the Kuki family are rarely shown to the public and became known thanks to Miura Ichiro in 1941 and Ago Kiyotaka.
How it differs
Genbukan distinguishes three traditions with the name Kukishin-ryu, Tenshin hyoho Kukishin-ryu, Hontai Kukishin-ryu bojutsu and Kukishinden happo bikenjutsu. According to it, Tenshin hyoho leads to Yakushimaru Kurando Takamasa, happo bikenjutsu to Izumo Kaja Yoshiteru. According to English Wikipedia, the Kuki family maintains its own line Kukamishin-ryu, called Kukishin-ryu Tenshin hyoho until 2016, and Kukishinden Tenshin hyoho is a different line with a similar name. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists under number 014 Takagi-ryu jujutsu together with Kukishin-ryu bojutsu.
Technique
Genbukan lists nine parts, daken taijutsu, bojutsu, sojutsu with the spear, naginatajutsu, bisentojutsu, jojutsu, juttejutsu, kishajutsu and bikenjutsu, as well as techniques with fire, throwing of shuriken and gunryaku. According to Genbukan, bikenjutsu is the name that the fourteenth generation gave to its swordsmanship, bi is also read hi and means secret. English Wikipedia says that besides taijutsu the Bujinkan concentrates on happo biken jutsu, that is various modern and traditional weapons, and that this is its branch of Kukishin-ryu.
Training
According to English Wikipedia, training in Bujinkan progresses from prescribed kata sets and physical conditioning through variations of fixed drills called henka to free practice randori. According to Wikipedia, Bujinkan takes no part in competitions. According to Genbukan, Takamatsu said that daken taijutsu means daken jutsu with taijutsu and that taijutsu is the source and most important part of budo.
Ranks and progression
Before Hatsumi founded Bujinkan and began to teach the nine schools together, he awarded his students certificates in individual ryu, according to English Wikipedia, and several practitioners earned menkyo kaiden in individual schools. Genbukan lists Tanemura Shoto as soke of Kukishinden happo biken-jutsu Tanemura-ha.
Today
English Wikipedia states that around his 88th birthday in December 2019 Hatsumi announced his successors and named Iwata Yoshio for Kukishin-ryu. According to it, Unsui Manaka in Jinenkan, Sukh Sandhu in Gi Yu Kyo Kai and Shoto Tanemura in Genbukan have their own branches. Genbukan states that in 1989 Kinbei Sato named Tanemura soke of Takagi Yoshin-ryu, Bokuden-ryu, Gikan-ryu and Kukishin-ryu.
Did you know
The character 鬼, demon, replaced an older character in the name according to English Wikipedia, so the name should be read Kukami, but Kuki has been customary since the Edo period. Green says the Kuki family was known in western Japan for naval skills. The biographical date 1336 relates, according to Wikipedia, to Ryushin's liberation of Emperor Go-Daigo.
Frequently asked questions
Who teaches Kukishinden-ryu today?
According to English Wikipedia, Bujinkan, Jinenkan, Gi Yu Kyo Kai and Genbukan, each in its own branch.
Is Kukishinden-ryu the same as the Kukishin-ryu of the Kuki family?
No. According to Wikipedia, the Kuki family has its own Kukamishin-ryu line, Genbukan distinguishes three traditions of similar name.
Is the school in Nihon Kobudo Kyokai?
No. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists only Kukishin-ryu bojutsu together with Takagi-ryu jujutsu.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.